Roller coaster

ABSTRACT

A roller coaster suitable particularly for young children such as children of pre-school age. A track is provided with a lower front end and a rear upper end while a vehicle is provided for free movement gravitationally down the track from its rear upper end toward its lower front end. A supporting structure supports the rear upper end of the track at the required elevation, this supporting structure also serving to support a releasable holding element which releasably holds a vehicle at the rear upper end of the track while a child climbs into the vehicle. A manually operable member is accessible to the occupant of the vehicle for displacing the holding member to a non-holding or release position, so that when the occupant desires the vehicle can be released for movement down the track.

Unite States atet Lohr et a1. 5] Dec. 25, 1973 1 RQLLER CUASTER [75]Inventors: Raymond .1. Lohr; James Smith; 5' 5": i fi g g l gg wi?i g lL ssls an xamm rr n Lowe! Bennett of Pa Atl0rneyBlum, Moscovitz,Friedman & Kaplan [731 Assignee: Louis Marx & Co., Inc., New York,

N.Y. 22 Filed: Apr. 12, 1971 [571 ABSTRMT Appl. No.: 133,100

FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France 104/69 lO/l904 A roller coastersuitable particularly for young children such as children of pre-schoolage. A track is provided with a lower front end and a rear upper endwhile a vehicle is provided for free movement gravitationally down thetrack from its rear upper end toward its lower front end. A supportingstructure supports the rear upper end of the track at the requiredelevation, this supporting structure also serving to support areleasable holding element which releasably holds a vehicle at the rearupper end of the track while a child climbs into the vehicle. A manuallyoperable member is accessible to the occupant of the vehicle fordisplacing the holding member to a non-holding or release position, sothat when the occupant desires the vehicle can be released for movementdown the track.

12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEE25|9?5 3.780.665

SHEH 1 0f 2 INVEN ORS By A own; L. BEA/N577 @M ma 57% ATTORN EYS ROLLERcoAsrEn BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates toroller coasters.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of rollercoaster which is adapted particularly for use by relatively smallchildren, such as children of preschool age.

Rollers coasters of this general type have a vehicle into which a childcan climb. The child will usually displace the vehicle to the upper endof the track and will then climb into the vehicle in order to ride inthe latter down the track.

Considerable problems have been encountered with roller coasters of thistype in making them fool-proof and absolutely safe, particularly forsmall children. With known structures of this type the vehicle oftentips and falls off the track when the child tries to climb into thevehicle. Also the vehicle does not reliably remain at the upper end ofthe track so that children, and particularly small children, encounterconsiderable difficultie's in climbing into the vehicle while holdingthe latter at the upper end of the track in preparation for riding thevehicle down the track.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a roller coaster which will solve the aboveproblems.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a rollercoaster which will enable a child to climb into the vehicle thereofwithout any possibility of tilting or tipping the vehicle.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a roller coaster ofthe above type which will reliably maintain the vehicle at the upper endof the track without any manipulations being required by the child inconnection with holding the vehicle at the upper end of the track.

Also it is an object of the invention to provide for a roller coaster astructure which will enable the occupant of the vehicle to release thevehicle for movement down the track whenever desired.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a rollercoaster made up of simple rugged components which can be inexpensivelymanufactured at low cost and which will have a long operating life evenunder the rugged use to be expected from small children.

According to the invention the roller coaster includes an' elongatedtrack means having a lower front end and an upper rear end. A supportmeans supports the upper rear end of the track means at the requiredelevation with respect to the lower front end thereof. A vehicle meansis provided for moving freely on the track so that the vehicle meanswill move by gravity freely down the track from the upper to the lowerend thereof. A releasable holding means is provided for releasablyholding the vehicle means at the upper end of the track, so that a childcan readily climb into the vehicle while it remains reliably held at theupper end of the track by the releasable holding means. A manuallyoperable means is accessible to the occupant of the vehicle fordisplacing the releasable holding means to a release position releasingthe vehicle for movement down the track at the will of the occupant ofthe vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which:

FIG. I. is a perspective illustration of a roller coaster of theinvention showing all parts thereof except the vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of the vehicle of 0 the rollercoaster as seen when looking toward the bottom thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional side elevation of the roller coaster of theinvention showing the vehicle at the upper end of the track and inphantom lines when it has reached the lower end of the track, FIG. 3being taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 in thedirection of the arrows and showing further details;

FIG. 5 is a sectional plan view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3 in thedirection of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a view showing the structure at the upper. right portion ofFIG. 3 in the position taken by the structure at the moment when theoccupant decides to release the vehicle for movement down the track; and

FIG. 7 is a view of the structure at the upper right of FIG. 3 showingthe position which the parts take during.

return of the vehicle to the upper end of the track.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings,FIG. I shows a roller coaster 10 according to the present invention.This roller coaster I0 includes an elongated track means 12 made up of apair of elongated tracks 14 and 16. These tracks are interconnected attheir lower front ends by a transverse portion 18. The entire trackmeans 12 is composed of a single elongated tube made of a suitable metaland having the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, the trackmeans has a lower front end 20 at the region of the transverse portion18 and an upper rear end 22 carried by a support means 24. The trackmeans 12 can be formed in its entirety of a single length of tubing ofany suitable metal, and the rear ends of the track 14 and 16 extendthrough suitable openings which are formed in standards 26 and 28 of thesupport means 24. As is apparent particularly from FIGS. 3 and 5, theentire support means 24 is made of a single body which is hollow andwhich may be blow-molded from any suitable plastic. At its lower end thesupport means 24 is adapted to rest on any suitable floor 30 or thelike. The transverse hollow base 32 carries the upwardly extendinghollow standards 26 and 28 which in turn are connected to each other bythe transverse hollow upper portion 34 of the support means. The hollowupper rear end portions of the tracks 14 and 16 extend through the frontand rear walls of each standard 26 and 28, and the rear walls thereofare respectively formed with shallow tubular extensions 36 which receivethe rear ends of the tracks, as is apparent from FIGS. .3 and 5.

In order to fix the tracks to the support means 24, the upper rear endsof the tracks are formed with openings for receiving fastening rods 38and 40 (FIG. 5). These rods have head ends situated at the outer sidesurfaces of the standards 26 and 28, and at their inner ends the rodsextend through the inner walls of the standards and carry suitablefixing collars 42 and 44. The rod 40 has an elongated inner free endportion 46 which forms a stop member referred to in greater detailbelow.

The vehicle means 48 of the roller coaster is shown by itself in FIG. 2.This vehicle means includes a onepiece hollow blow-molded body 50 whichis of a simple rugged construction and which in effect forms a simpledished enclosure in which a child can be seated. The one-piece hollowbody 50 is provided with downwardly extending projections 52 which aretransversely bored to receive the rotary axles 54 and S6. The front axle54 is fixed to the front wheels 58 of the vehicle while the rear axle 56is fixed to the rear wheels.60 of the vehicle. Each of the wheels 58 and60 is in the form of a onepiece injection-molded body having an innerportion 62 of relatively small diameter for riding directly on a trackand an outer portion 64 of relatively large diameter situated beside atrack and adapted to engage the floor 30 when the vehicle movesdownwardly beyond the track means 12.

A releasable holding means 66 is provided for releasably holding thevehicle means 48 at the upper end of the track means 12. This releasableholding means 66 takes the form of a lever 68 having a front hookportion 70 adapted to hook over the rear axle 56.

A manually operable means 72 is accessible to the occupant of thevehicle for raising the releasable holding means 66 away from the axle56 when it is desired to release the vehicle for movement down thetrack. This manually operable means 72 is itself in the form of a lever74 having a free end 76 situated beside the vehicle so as to be freelyaccessible to the occupant of the vehicle.

The levers 68 and 74 of the releasable holding means 66 and manuallyoperable means 72 are interconnected by a transverse member 78. In factthis transverse member 78 forms one piece with the levers 68 and 74, sothat these components can be formed from a single elongated rod havingthe configuration most clearly apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5. I

The support means 24 supports the transverse member 78 for rotarymovement so that in this way the levers 68 and 74 are supported forswinging movement. For this purpose the rear wall of the standard 26 isformed with an exterior groove receiving the transverse member 78. Aplate 80 is fastened to the rear surface of the standard 26 so as toretain the transverse member 78 in the groove in which it rotates.

The stop member formed by the free end portion 46 of the rod 40 extendsbeneath the lever 68 so as to limit the downward swinging movementthereof. The elevation of the stop member 46 and the transverse member78 is such that the free end of the hook 70 will engage and ride overthe axle 56 during rearward movement of the vehicle up to the upper endof the track means, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Once the vehicle 48 movesslightly to the right beyond the position shown in FIG. 7, the hookportion 70 of the lever 68 will fall in front of the rear axle 56 sothat the parts will have the position shown in F IG. 3. The stop member46 locates the lever 68 at an inclination where the tip of the hook 70will engage and ride over the axle 56 during movement of the vehicle upthe track slightly beyond the position shown in FIG. 7.

when it is desired to release the vehicle for movement down the trackthe operator will simply engage the free end portion 76 of the lever 74and raise the free end portion 76 so as to raise the releasable holdinglever 68 to the position shown in FIG. 6, and thus the vehicle will bereleased for movement down the track, the operator of course releasingthe lever 74 so that the lever 68 will fall onto the stop member 46 tobe held thereby at the proper elevation for again engaging the axle 56when the vehicle is returned to the upper end of the track.

As is apparent particularly from FIG. 4, the vehicle 48 has an extremelylow center of gravity with respect to the tracks 14 and 16. Moreover,the engagement of the larger diameter portions 64 of the wheels with theouter sides of the tracks 14 and 16 while the inner smaller diameterportions 62 ride on the tracks gives the vehicle an extremely highlateral stability on the tracks. As a result of this construction whenthe hook 70 holds the vehicle 48 at the upper end of the track means 12,while extending over the rear axle 56 of the vehicle means, a child, forexample, can readily climb into the vehicle without any danger oftilting or tipping the vehicle or causing it in any way to assume anyposition of instability on the tracks 14 and 16. The simple releasableholding means 66 reliably maintains the vehicle at the upper end of thetrack while a child climbs into the vehicle. Moreover, once the childraises the lever 74 so as to release the vehicle it will reliably rolldown the track without any danger of riding off the track beforereaching the floor onto which the vehicle rolls while moving due to itsmomentum beyond the track I2. Moreover, because of the hollow moldedstructure of the vehicle it is of an extremely light weight while at thesame time being very rugged, so that it can readily be moved up thetrack back to the starting position by a child. The releasable holdingmeans operates automatically to hold the vehicle at the upper end of thetrack in the manner described above.

It is furthermore to be noted that the structure of the invention isexceedingly simple to assemble. All that is required is to move thetracks 14 and 16 into the standards of the support means, to be receivedby the portions 36 thereof, and then the fastening rods 38 and 40 can beapplied. Thereafter the assemblies of levers 68 and 74 is applied to thestandard 26 and the plate 80 is fastened to hold this assembly inpositionv The only care required is to see to it that the lever 68extends over the stop member 46. Through this simple structure itbecomes possible to quickly assemble the entire roller coaster.

Thus, it will be seen that with the invention there has been provided aroller coaster which is completely foolproof and which can be used bysmall children even of pre-school age, without any danger whatsoever.Moreover, the components of the roller coaster are of an exceedinglysimple and rugged construction which will have a longer operating lifeeven under the rugged use to be expected from small children.Furthermore, the parts are quite inexpensive and of a light weight, andlend themselves to easy assembly by the purchaser of the roller coaster,so that the entire roller coaster can conveniently be sold in adisassembled condition.

It is to be noted that the vehicle 48 is reversible so that either oneof the shafts 54 and 56 can coact with the lever 68. Thus, if thevehicle is reversed from the position shown in FIGS. 3-5, 6 and 7, itwill be the shaft 54 which coacts with the lever 68 in the same way asthe shaft 56.

Also, in order to provide sufficient clearance for the hook end of lever68 the vehicle 48 is formed at its lower surface with the recessedportions 90 into which the lever as moves in the manner shown in FIGS. 6and 7. Because of the reversibility of the vehicle these recessedportions 9t) are positioned as shown in FIG. 2 so that irrespective ofwhich end of the vehicle happens to be used as its rear end, there willbe proper positioning at a recess 94) with respect to the lever 68.

What is claimed is:

1. A roller coaster comprising elongated track means having a frontlower end and a rear upper end, support means supporting said tracltmeans at said rear upper end thereof with the latter end situated at asubstantially higher elevation than said front lower end of said trackmeans, vehicle means freely movable on said track means forgravitational movement from said rear upper end thereof down to saidfront lower end thereof, releasable holding means coacting with saidvehicle means for releasably holding the latter at said rear upper endof said track means, and manually operable means accessible to anoccupant of said vehicle means and operatively connected with saidreleasable holding means for displacing the latter to a release positionreleasing the vehicle for gravitational movement down the track means atthe will of the vehicle occupant, said vehicle means having a rear axle,said releasable holding means including a lever swingably carried bysaid support means and having a hook portion extending over said rearaxle for releasably holding said vehicle means at the upper rear end ofsaid traclt means, and said manually operable means being operativelyconnected to said lever for raising the latter away from said rear axleto release said vehicle means for movement down said track means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said manually operable meansis itself in the form ofa lever having a free end accessible to theoperator and operatively connected to said lever of said releasableholding means for swinging the latter lever.

3. A roller coaster comprising elongated track means having a frontlower end and a rear upper end, support means supporting said trackmeans at said rear upper end thereof with the latter end situated at asubstantially higher elevation than said front lower end of said trackmeans, vehicle means freely movable on said traclt means forgravitational movement from said rear upper end thereof down to saidfront lower end thereof, releasable holding means coacting with saidvehicle means for releasably holding the latter at said rear upper endof said track means, and manually operable means accessible to anoccupant of said vehicle means and operatively connected withsaidreleasable holding means for displacing the latter to a releaseposition releasing the vehicle for gravitational movement down the trackmeans at the will of the vehicle occupant, said vehicle means having arear axle, said releasable holding means including a lever swingablycarried by said support means and having a hook portion extending oversaid rear axle for releasably holding said vehicle means at the upperrear end of said track means, and said manually operable means beingoperatively connected to said lever for raising the latter away fromsaid rear axle to release said vehicle means for movement down saidtrack means, said manually operable means itself being in the form of alever having a free end accessible to the operator and operativelyconnected to said lever of said releasable holding means for swingingthe latter lever, a transverse member extending between andinterconnecting said levers of said releasable holding means and saidmanually operable means, and said support means supporting saidtransverse member for rotary movement so that said levers swing togetheras a unit with said transverse member.

d. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said track means includes apair of tracks, and said support means including a pair of standardssupporting said tracks at rear upper end portions thereof, one of saidstandards supporting said transverse member for swinging movement withsaid lever of said releasable holding means located at an inner side ofsaid one standard for engaging said rear axle and with said lever ofsaid manually operable means located at an outer side of said onestandard to be situated at said free end portion thereof beside avehicle at the rear upper end of said track means so as to be accessibleto the operator.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said one standard carries astop member extending beneath said lever of said releasable holdingmeans to limit the downward swinging thereof, said stop member situatingthe latter lever at an elevation for automatically moving over andhooking onto said rear axle of said vehicle means when the latter ismoved up to said rear end of said track means.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said stop member is in theform of an elongated fastening pin extending through said one standardand that one of said tracks which is carried thereby for fixing thelatter track to said one standard and said pin having an elongated freeend portion forming said stop member.

'7. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said one standard has a reargroove receiving said transverse member and said one standard carrying aplate which extends across said groove and said transverse member forretaining the latter in said groove.

8. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said track means includes apair of tracks and said vehicle means including wheels engaging saidtracks with each wheel having an inner small-diameter portion riding ona track and an outer large diameter portion situated beside a track.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein each of said wheels is in theform of a one-piece molded body.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said vehicle means includes aone-piece hollow molded chassis having downwardly extending projectionssituated between said wheels, and said vehicle means including axlesextending through said projections and connected with said wheels.

11. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said support means is in theform ofa one-piece hollow molded body.

12. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a stop means extends beneathsaid lever of said releasable holding means to limit downward swingingthereof, said stop means situating the latter lever at an elevation forautomatically moving over and hooking onto said rear axle of saidvehicle means when the latter is moved up to said rear upper end of saidtrack means.

1. A roller coaster comprising elongated track means having a frontlower end and a rear upper end, support means supporting said trackmeans at said rear upper end thereof with the latter end situated at asubstantially higher elevation than said front lower end of said trackmeans, vehicle means freely movable on said track means forgravitational movement from said rear upper end thereof down to saidfront lower end thereof, releasable holding means coacting with saidvehicle means for releasably holding the latter at said rear upper endof said track means, and manually operable means accessible to anoccupant of said vehicLe means and operatively connected with saidreleasable holding means for displacing the latter to a release positionreleasing the vehicle for gravitational movement down the track means atthe will of the vehicle occupant, said vehicle means having a rear axle,said releasable holding means including a lever swingably carried bysaid support means and having a hook portion extending over said rearaxle for releasably holding said vehicle means at the upper rear end ofsaid track means, and said manually operable means being operativelyconnected to said lever for raising the latter away from said rear axleto release said vehicle means for movement down said track means.
 2. Thecombination of claim 1 and wherein said manually operable means isitself in the form of a lever having a free end accessible to theoperator and operatively connected to said lever of said releasableholding means for swinging the latter lever.
 3. A roller coastercomprising elongated track means having a front lower end and a rearupper end, support means supporting said track means at said rear upperend thereof with the latter end situated at a substantially higherelevation than said front lower end of said track means, vehicle meansfreely movable on said track means for gravitational movement from saidrear upper end thereof down to said front lower end thereof, releasableholding means coacting with said vehicle means for releasably holdingthe latter at said rear upper end of said track means, and manuallyoperable means accessible to an occupant of said vehicle means andoperatively connected with said releasable holding means for displacingthe latter to a release position releasing the vehicle for gravitationalmovement down the track means at the will of the vehicle occupant, saidvehicle means having a rear axle, said releasable holding meansincluding a lever swingably carried by said support means and having ahook portion extending over said rear axle for releasably holding saidvehicle means at the upper rear end of said track means, and saidmanually operable means being operatively connected to said lever forraising the latter away from said rear axle to release said vehiclemeans for movement down said track means, said manually operable meansitself being in the form of a lever having a free end accessible to theoperator and operatively connected to said lever of said releasableholding means for swinging the latter lever, a transverse memberextending between and interconnecting said levers of said releasableholding means and said manually operable means, and said support meanssupporting said transverse member for rotary movement so that saidlevers swing together as a unit with said transverse member.
 4. Thecombination of claim 3 and wherein said track means includes a pair oftracks, and said support means including a pair of standards supportingsaid tracks at rear upper end portions thereof, one of said standardssupporting said transverse member for swinging movement with said leverof said releasable holding means located at an inner side of said onestandard for engaging said rear axle and with said lever of saidmanually operable means located at an outer side of said one standard tobe situated at said free end portion thereof beside a vehicle at therear upper end of said track means so as to be accessible to theoperator.
 5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said one standardcarries a stop member extending beneath said lever of said releasableholding means to limit the downward swinging thereof, said stop membersituating the latter lever at an elevation for automatically moving overand hooking onto said rear axle of said vehicle means when the latter ismoved up to said rear end of said track means.
 6. The combination ofclaim 5 and wherein said stop member is in the form of an elongatedfastening pin extending through said one standard and that one of saidtracks which is carried thereby for fixing the latter track to said onestandard and saiD pin having an elongated free end portion forming saidstop member.
 7. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said one standardhas a rear groove receiving said transverse member and said one standardcarrying a plate which extends across said groove and said transversemember for retaining the latter in said groove.
 8. The combination ofclaim 1 and wherein said track means includes a pair of tracks and saidvehicle means including wheels engaging said tracks with each wheelhaving an inner small-diameter portion riding on a track and an outerlarge diameter portion situated beside a track.
 9. The combination ofclaim 8 and wherein each of said wheels is in the form of a one-piecemolded body.
 10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said vehiclemeans includes a one-piece hollow molded chassis having downwardlyextending projections situated between said wheels, and said vehiclemeans including axles extending through said projections and connectedwith said wheels.
 11. The combination of claim 1 and wherein saidsupport means is in the form of a one-piece hollow molded body.
 12. Thecombination of claim 1 and wherein a stop means extends beneath saidlever of said releasable holding means to limit downward swingingthereof, said stop means situating the latter lever at an elevation forautomatically moving over and hooking onto said rear axle of saidvehicle means when the latter is moved up to said rear upper end of saidtrack means.